Sunday, May 31, 2015

Li Lan is a Malay Chinese young woman. Instead of training
her in the womanly arts of sewing, etc., her father—a recluse—educates her. Her
mother died when she was a young girl of the same smallpox epidemic that
scarred her father. Li Lan escaped with only one small pox behind her ear.

Once well-off financially, the family slowly slips into
decline as Li Lan's father loses his wealth. The man who owns the debt has a
son and heir, recently dead, and this spoiled young man's ghost returns during
the night to haunt his mother's dreams, and demands that Li Lan become his
Ghost Bride. Her father leaves the decision up to her, and she declines. But
young Lim haunts her, the man she was betrothed to finds himself in the
position of having the betrothal broken so she can marry young Lim, and Li Lan
accidentally overdoses on an opium medication to forestall the dreams of young
Lim.

She ends up travelling out of body through the realm of the
dead where she finds her mother, and barely escapes back to the living only to
discover her body has been taken over by another spirit who will not let her
back.

I found this book to be well-written, and great fun. I've
heard of Ghost Brides, but this is the first time I've read a story about one.
I loved the trip through the Plains of the Dead, and how the dead 'lived.' The
story did drag a little in the middle, but not for long.

Li Lan is not the heroine of an American novel. She is the
heroine of a Chinese novel set in colonial Malaya in 1893. She has lived a
sheltered life, with few life experiences on which to draw, the story takes
place before radio and instant communication, and all her knowledge has come
from her father, a badly scarred and reclusive opium addict, her amah who
raised her mother and then herself, and the house staff.

She only wants to rid herself of the ghost of young Lim so
she can marry her betrothed, Tian Bai, who by the end of the book is betrothed
to another. The only friend she has to call upon for help is Er Lang, a
stranger who always hides his face.

Part fairy tale, part murder mystery (who murdered young
Lim? And why?), a coming of age story, and a damn fine read! When you read this book, be sure to read the
notes at the end, they, too are interesting and well written.

Wednesday, May 20, 2015

This is a friend's favorite read, and while I found it a
good story, I also found things in it, or not in it, that make it, for me, a
good read—not my favorite.

It's a teen read, not sure it's quite Young Adult, but not
sure it isn't. For me, the story dragged a bit here and there, and when the
thief escaped in a rowboat, I couldn't understand why the sailboat didn't chase
him down? They knew, immediately, what happened. And how did the thief, in his
little rowboat, find the other sailboat that wasn't visible at the time?

Much of it reminded me of Tolkien and Lewis, who are not bad
people to be reminded of, though without the strong religious bent. This is the
first of a series, and I will most assuredly pick up the next in the series.

It begins in 1917, and John has been in the trenches of
France and sent home to England to recuperate from a combination of shell shock
and gas. He is a so-so student of his mentor, in ancient languages, and hasn't
a great deal of ambition at the moment. He receives a note from his mentor, not
entirely clear what the note means, he goes to London only to arrive at his
mentor's office to find him dead.

He ends up with two other companions, Jack and Charles,
being rescued by Bert from the snarling, nasty, killing imaginary beasts called
Wendigos. They leap onto Bert's sailboat, sail out of London and onto a new
sea, and into a fantastical adventure where they discover they are keepers of
the great atlas, the Imaginarium Geographica, and must not only guard it, but
save the Archipelago from evil.

A nice twist at the end, when their full names are revealed.
If you're up on your literature, or at least that of Williams, Tolkien, Lewis,
and Wells, it may hold even more interest for you. At the least, it's an
enjoyable story, complete with some laugh-out-loud moments.

What makes this book about bullies in school, and how to
stand up and face them, so amazing is a twelve-year-old girl wrote it. She
wrote a collection of short stories, and grouped them by age, has told a bit
about bullying—what it is, and what it isn't (it isn't funny!), and given each
age of child a means to counter the bully and possibly even make a friend.

As it says on the back of the book, "In this collection
of short stories,m children learn to stand tall and strong against bullies and
ultimately become the beautiful flowers they are meant to be."

If your children, or grandchildren, or even neighbor
children are the target of bullies, consider sharing this book with them. If
you know a bully, consider sharing this book with them. They may not realize,
truly, the harm they cause.

And it's not just other children who bully, in many cases,
it's also teachers, or parents, or neighbors.

Thursday, May 14, 2015

The world-building of this story is marvelous. The title is
spot-on! It is about Karma and it is about Mayhem, which seems to go on
throughout the book.

This is an adult book, with full frontal nudity. Okay, it's
a book, but the descriptions are pretty good.

Rowen and his veed, Tal, have been forcibly separated, and
if not reunited within a specific period of time, and in a specific manner,
they will die. (Don't worry about what a veed is, it is explained, and quite
well. Just understand they are important to the lives of those who have them.)

Janay is a wounded warrior, and good friends with the
Archangel, Adrada. He's a pretty interesting guy, but gives out no free lunches.
To anyone. She stumbles upon Rowen practically in his death throes, and as a
Peacekeeper, vows to save him. Even after she learns the terms from Adrada.

Tienan is Rowen's elder brother. He's not sure about Janay,
but shucks, this is a "romance" so you know what's going to happen.
It's all the fun stuff between the Prologue and The End that keeps you turning
the pages to the unexpected twist.

I'm not much into the Romance genre, but I do enjoy a good
SF/F book, and if there happens to be romance in it, that's alright, too.
Archangels (yes, plural), samurai, veeds, warriors, sex, and mayhem. Lots of
mayhem. For what more can a reader who loves a good escape ask??

The world, the characters, the story are all believable and
great fun.

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

To take from her last entry: "Knowing my journals would
be read has provided a certain discipline for me. It has forced me to try to be
honest with myself and thus with my readers, not to pretend that things are
better than they are, but learn to evaluate without self-pity or
self-glorification what has been happening to me."

I have read a few of May Sarton's works, including a couple
of her Journals, and I find this one the one that I most resonated with. There
were times when her honesty almost sounded like bitchiness, then I realized if
she was bitchy, she wouldn't have had the legions of fans and friends she had
coming to visit, calling, sending flowers, etc. And, had I been in the pain she
was in, I probably would sound bitchy too, now and again.

She faced her cancer head on, and her disease passed over
and by her and when it passed, only she was left. She admitted her fear (I
don't know that I could do that) not just to herself, but to everyone. And she
shared her great joy and love.

This journal was started in her 79th year, and finished in
her 80th. She died in her 83d year, 16 July 1995. She talks about many of her
contemporaries, authors I've read, or heard about, and many I didn't know or
know of. But, for the duration of her book, I felt I was her friend, and a
friend of May Sarton's surely was a friend of mine. I found it delightful to
hear first person accounts of people I've only read, or read about.

I don't know if a young person would be able to relate to
this book, but if a young person has an elder person in her life, this might be
a good book to help relate to "Granny." And if you are that
"Granny" this is a fascinating book to read.

A fascinating book to read a bit of before turning out the
light. She truly earned every award she ever received or for which she was
nominated.